It Felt So Real
by Loyal Browncoat
Summary: The group are together again and are holed up in a hotel while on the job. The lonliness becomes too much for Arthur and he seeks out Ariadne and the comfort he knows she can provide... But is it real? Rated M for sexual content.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own 'Inception', it's characters or anything otherwise associated with it._

_A/N: Well... I just happened to be trawling through my cluttered hard drive the other day, and was surprised to find this in my 'yet to finish' folder when it fact it was. So, some minor tweaking and here we are, my first published piece *eep* Please let me know what you think - Reviews make me happy, and me even prompt my muse to snap out of it's semi conscious state!_

Taking a deep breath, Athur pressed his lips together in a fine line before slipping quietly into the grand hotel room, but not before looking around and making sure that nobody else saw him enter.

Closing the door behind him, he glanced around the well lit, plush room and saw that it was empty, so turned to leave when he noticed that the en suite door was ajar and the light on. Taking a step forward, he heard movement and the rustling of clothes before a flash of dark blue caught his eye. Looking closer, he realised that the flash of dark blue was the evening gown Ariadne had worn earlier during one of the many dinners they'd shared with Mr Miyazaki... And it was now lying spread eagled on the floor.

Without thinking, he allowed his gray suit jacket to slide off over his shoulders and started slowly approaching the bathroom door, unbottoning his waist coat and pulling his tie off as he walked.

Coming up to the door, he closed his eyes for a moment and pictured how radiant Ari had looked earlier that evening in the dress; the very thought of her out of it was enough to convince him that he was doing the right thing. Pushing it open noiselessly, he peered around the edge and was confronted with a vision of Ari standing before the overhead mirror removing her make up... In her underwear.

He stood and stared silently for a moment just admiring her body, and how her lacey black underwear added to the subtle curves of her hips and cleavage. Unable to take it for much longer, he made sure to make a noise upon entering, giving Ari a few seconds to look up and gasp before he was standing mere inches away from her. For what felt like a blissful eternity, they both stood and simply stared at each other as their bodies gradually inched closer without either of them realising until Ari spoke up.

"Arthur..." she whispered, using every ounce of willpower she had to stop herself from kissing him as she continued. "What are you doing?"

His eyes narrowed as he stared at her in that intense, familiar Arthur like way that she often saw when on the job, and he lightly stroked her cheek with his finger, a light flickering to life in his cold, dead eyes as he did.

"I just want to feel something... Real," he said as his hand slipped behind her neck. "Just once..." he added, something in his voice almost pleading with her, not that she would have needed much encouragement. Licking her lips, she threw her arms around him and moments later their lips met and the world came to a standstill. In that one perfect moment, a myriad of thoughts and feelings raced through Ari like lightning, but none moreso than the electricity that ignited her body as if it was waking up from a prolongued sleep. The kiss became heated, passionate, and it wasn't long before Ari had expertly undone the buttons of his crisp white shirt and tossed it aside as if it were a rag. Running her hands over his smooth, chiseled stomach, she moaned contentedly as he inched slowly along her jawline, smothering her skin with his soft lips as he slid his hands behind her back and unclipped her bra. It joined his shirt and was soon followed by his trousers. Jumping up and wrapping her legs around his waist, Ari clung to him tightly as he carried her through to the main room, throwing her onto the four poster before instantly clambering on top of her. The kisses were fiery and fueled by pure, unadulterated lust, and it wasn't long before their wandering hands had removed the last scraps of clothing that acted as an inpeneterable barrier between the two of them.

Gasping in unison as they became one, Ari arched herself against Arthur as he moved slowly, digging his fingers into her thighs as he pushed deeper and deeper, eliciting low moans from Ari, who bit down on her bottom lip and bunched up the silken sheets in a vice like grip as she moved in time with him.

Picking up speed, both moved at a steady rhythm until Arthur leaned forward and pulled Ari into a sitting position, ensuring that there wasn't an inch of space left between the two of them. Throwing their arms around each other, their lips met again breifly before exploring the rest of their bodies, playfully nipping each other every now and then before Arthur started moving faster and with what felt like the strength of ten men. Throwing her head back, Ari called for every deity in the known universe as she felt herself almost leaving the bed and Arthur continued with his almost frantic pace, moving his hands to rest upon her hips as he attempted to pull her even closer, crushing her to him as if his life depended on it. It continued like this for what felt like hours, days even when they eventually came to their earth shattering climax, both crying out in ecstasy as they felt the world around them shift.

Collapsing against each other afterwards, Ari lay her head against Arthur's chest and listened to the furious pounding of his heart as he wrapped an arm around her weary shoulders, lightly stroking her hair before kissing the top of her head repeatedly, savouring the smell of her shampoo and the feel of her under his lips.

They sat like that for a while, basking in the other's company as Ari lightly ran a finger along Arthur's muscular arm while he allowed his fingers to slowly trail up and down her back, which after a while sent her into a contented dream like state as she snuggled against him.

He wished so much for that moment in time to stretch out and last forever, wanting nothing more than to hold Ari like this for an eternity; but sadly he knew it couldn't happen.

"Ari?" he whispered against her forehead.

"Mmmm?" she responded sleepily.

Taking a deep breath, he gazed up at the silk lined covers of the four poster and bit his bottom lip, knowing that he didn't have long.

"You need to know that I... I wanted so much for this to happen," he said, gently pulling away from her so that she was forced to look into his eyes.

She gazed awe struck at him before a warm, loving smile crossed her face.

"Me too... You have no idea how long for," she breathed.

There was a pause in which Arthur felt his insides freeze over as he wondered if she even knew that the time they just spent together hadn't really happened. It had seemed so incredible, so intense and most importantly of all, so real to both of them. He could feel the heat radiating off her; feel her skin against his, smell her hair, hear her breathing... And he had certainly felt something only ten minutes previously, yet he knew this was all in their heads, and had no idea how she'd react when she realised.

"Ari.." he said breathlessly before she placed a silencing finger over his lips.

"Whatever you have to say can wait; let's just enjoy this moment," she said, already moving in for a kiss.

Reluctantly pulling back, Arthur looked away before shaking his head.

"That's just the thing, it can't-" were the last words he uttered, and the last that Ari heard before both of them woke with a start inside the derelict warehouse that had been designated their unofficial headquarters whilst on the Miyazaki job.

Taking a moment to fall back to reality, Ari looked over at a solemn looking Arthur, who immediately sat up in his deck chair and removed the strap from around his wrist. However, before he could leap up, Ari had done the same in what felt like the blink of an eye and was already grabbing for the canvas messanger bag that lay at her feet.

"Ariadne!" Arthur called out as she turned and walked away. "Ariadne, please!" he tried again, only for her to completely ignore him and continue heading in the direction of the exit.

"And here I was thinking that there was a private party I hadn't been invited to," a familiar voice drawled from somewhere in the large, empty room.

Spinning around, Arthur groaned when he noticed Eames casually leaning against a far wall, standing with his hands in his pockets and a smug grin crossing his face.

"This doesn't concern you Eames," Arthur said, shooting him a warning look.

Pulling his hands out of his pockets, Eames straightened up and sauntered towards Arthur, the grin never shifting as he spoke.

"Actually it does – We're a team of professionals that needs to stick together and inform the others of where we are at all times... I came to find you and Ariadne, but neither of you were in your rooms, so of course I was dreadfully worried-"

"Nosey more like," Arthur muttered to himself.

"-So naturally I came looking for you in the first place I'd expect either of you to be and here you are enjoying a midnight rendevous... Using the PASIV nonetheless," he added with a wink.

Sighing wearily, Arthur turned to follow Ari when Eames spoke up again.

"What's the matter Arthur? Don't know how to show a woman a good time using just your manly prowess? I could give you a helping hand if ever you needed it..."

Stopping in his tracks, Arthur felt his hands instinctively ball into fists as his patience began to wear thin, as it often did with Eames.

"You need to stop talking NOW!" he hissed, his tone taking on a deadly calm that usually meant danger was fast approaching.

Despite his warning, Eames continued as if he hadn't heard Arthur talking at all.

"And a professional such as yourself should know that dipping your pen in the company ink is ALWAYS a bad idea-" was all he managed before Arthur's fist came out of nowhere and connected with a sickening thud to the side of his face.

The punch sent Eames sprawling to the dank concrete floor as Arthur hovered above him threateningly, his hand still balled into a fist and appearing to be standing on guard, as if expecting Eames to leap at him in retaliation.

Eames however propped himself up on an elbow and touched a hand to his now bloodied lip and looked up at Arthur in stony silence for a while.

"How did that feel? Good?" he asked, his tone now deadly serious.

This wasn't what Arthur had been expecting, and it was evident by the quizzical look on his face as he uncurled his fist.

"What?" he asked, staggered by Eames' response.

Groaning lightly as he shifted position and pulled himself to his feet, Eames dusted himself down and glanced over Arthur's shoulder.

"You should go after her – She didn't look to be in the highest of spirits when she ran past; and the last thing the team needs is a lover's quarel screwing everything up."

Arthur instantly formulated many responses in his mind, all of which included him insisting that there was nothing between him and Ariadne, but that would have been a flat out lie, and he didn't believe in keeping things from his colleagues. So instead he nodded, thanked Eames and bolted in the opposite direction, hoping that he was able to catch up with Ariadne and smooth things over before he lost the team their architect... And he the one person in the world who'd managed to break through his every barrier and caught a glimpse of the real Arthur.

_A/N: So... What did you think? Please R and R ^^_


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N: Oh my GOD I am SO sorry for the severe delay with this chapter - I have no real excuse, but I can say that I had the summer holidays with my little one, a wedding and all sorts of other life associated things to contend with and this sort of fell on the back burner. But, as I said I had a habit of doing, I came across the half finished product last night and set to work to finish it. So here it is, the aftermath... Enjoy and don't forget to R and R!_**

Ariadne marched resolutely across the polished marble floor in the reception area of the group's hotel, determined not to meet the eyes of the receptionist who called out after her. Stopping even for a moment to lie about whether everything was 'alright' or not could slow her down enough to give Arthur the chance to catch up, and that was something she had no intention of allowing to happen. To look up into the endless pools of whiskey brown that were his eyes through her own, blurred with tears would be her un doing; she knew that the moment he started talking that she would want to listen, but she couldn't, not tonight. The pain was fresh and raw, an all consuming endless rip tide that swallowed her whole and refused to let her go… It felt like she was suffocating and couldn't find her way to the surface. Instinctively taking a deep breath, she stopped before the elevator and pushed the button, only to hear the unmistakable noise of one of the two double doors being thrown open carelessly behind her. She didn't need to turn around to know that it was Arthur – The man was all lithe long legs, agility and very 'keep fit'; she was surprised he hadn't caught up to her sooner.

"Come on!" she hissed at the metal doors, jabbing the button repeatedly in a vain attempt to provide herself with an escape route before hurricane Arthur hit.

"Ariadne!" he called out, the desperation in his voice evident as he made to cross over the vast expanse of the lobby. His hurried footsteps echoed around the high ceilinged room as the elevator finally came to a stop before her, as did his pleas for her to wait and give him a chance to explain everything. It all fell on deaf ears however as Ariadne stepped into the small space and punched the button for her floor without once looking back. Arthur's cries of protest were muffled as the doors slid closed, and only when the elevator juddered to life did Ariadne feel comfortable enough to turn around, wrapping her arms tightly around her shivering body as it ascended. Glancing everywhere but at the mirrored wall behind her, she chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip and attempted to stem the tears that still flowed freely. Closing her eyes, Ariadne thought she had managed to regain her composure only to suddenly have a vision of Arthur before her, leaning in close and gently pressing his lips against hers. She shuddered as she remembered the feel of his smooth, nimble fingers running over her bare back, leaving fiery hot trails on her skin in their wake. Losing herself to the memory for a moment, she violently shook her head before pounding the wall beside her as the elevator ground to a halt at her floor.

"It wasn't real," she whispered tearfully to herself as she stepped through the open doors and proceeded to march along the well lit corridor with her head down and her arms crossed again.

Turning a corner, she wiped furiously at her tear stained face as she noticed a middle aged couple drunkenly ambling along the corridor, giggling and leaning against each other as the man tried three times to insert his key card into the lock of their door before he was successful. The minute the door was open, the woman who was shrieking with laughter, leapt at her unsuspecting partner and kicked the door closed once they were inside. Frowning sombrely, she pulled out her own key card with a shaking hand and slippped inside her lavish room, pulling the door closed behind her just as she could hear the echoes of someone running along the adjoining corridor.

Knowing instantly who it was, she sighed wearily and ensured that her door was locked before trudging over to the grand four poster bed and throwing herself onto it. Moments later, three sharp raps on the door sounded just as she had predicted.

"Ariadne please, talk to me - Let me explain myself, I'm begging you," Arthur called woefully through the door, standing with his fist and forehead resting against the solid, unyielding wood.

Lying on her back, Ariadne scowled before turning onto her side to ensure that she was facing away from the door. She considered saying nothing at all and simply pretending to have fallen asleep, but Arthur was no fool, and he was nothing if not persistent.

"Go AWAY Arthur," she ground out after a moment of tension filled silence "I REALLY don't feel like talking to you right now," she added a little bit more hesitantly.

A loud thud resonated throughout the room as Arthur pounded the door in frustration, more with himself than anything, only to instantly pull away and run a shaking hand over his slicked back hair.

"I know that I have no right to ask you to listen, or even to expect you to, but I can't walk away and leave things the way they are between us, I just can't."

His words had a sobering effect on Ariadne, and she rolled over before swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, glaring at the door as if she could see right through it.

"Why? For the good of the team? Don't worry about that Arthur; I wouldn't abandon everyone after all the work they've all put into this so far," she snapped.

"No, of course not!" he retorted, sounding almost offended.

Leaping off of the bed so suddenly that her head span, Ariadne marched over to the door and stopped less than a foot away from it. Fighting the urge to move forward and kick a hole into the expensive looking wood, she stood firmly in place with her hands upon her slender hips.

"Then what is it Arthur? Tell me why," she paused for a minute and took a deep, calming breath to steady the frantic beating of her heart "I want to hear you say it," she continued, giving herself a mental pat on the back for managing to keep her voice so steady despite the situation.

Out in the hallway, Arthur pressed his lips together in a fine line before nodding once, as if he were answering a question that hadn't yet been asked. Lowering his gaze to a level in which he knew to be the right height to make eye contact with Ariadne, he cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

"Because I care about you... And I have done for a while now. I don't know if you feel the same way-" he paused momentarily to steady the wavering in his voice, and to give Ariadne a chance to protest that she did in fact feel the same way. It didn't happen, so he continued unabashed "- but I can't bare the thought of you sitting alone in there, upset and hurt after... After what happened. Please Ariadne, at least let me explain myself, then afterwards if you still want nothing to do with me then I'll walk away and leave you alone; I give you my word."

Sighing wearily, Ariadne pinched the bridge of her nose and ground her teeth together in a feeble attempt to stop the tears from flowing again. When she was positive that she was calm enough to repond, Ariadne opened her mouth to answer him when she realised that she had nothing to say. She couldn't force herself to move forward, open the door and greet him with a smile and an 'I forgive you'... Nor could she turn away and leave him out there to the deafening silence and unanswered questions. Hovering on the spot, shifting weight from one foot to the other, she pressed her lips together in a fine line, not quite sure how to put into words what it was she was feeling.

On the other side of the door, Arthur took her silence as his answer and nodded reluctantly before turning to walk away.

"Arthur, a-are you still there?" Ariadne suddenly called out, halting Arthur in his tracks.

Spinning on his heel, he moved back to the door, his heart hammering furiously in his chest as he leaned against the door and closed his eyes.

"Yeah, still here," he responded, taking deep breaths to calm the incessant pounding of his heart. A fresh wave of hope blossomed within him, spreading outward until he was almost giddy from the prospect of Ariadne giving him another chance. He knew deep down that he didn't deserve it, that what he had done was dispicable and cruel, but the thought of only ever talking to Ariadne again in a professional capacity filled him with an acute sense of dread - The very idea of never seeing her beaming smile aimed in his direction left him feeling as if a lead weight were pressing against his chest, cutting off his air supply. He cared about her more than he was willing to admit, even to himself, and knew that she felt the same, but where she had made her feelings slightly more obvious in the things she said to him and little displays of affection, he found it harder to communicate across even the smallest hint of an attraction. It had been drilled into him for years that business was business, and to blur the line between that and pleasure was un thinkable, too high a risk. His was a face of stoic cynicism, his exterior cold, hard and professional, and he was determined for that never to change. When he was around Ariadne however, it all changed - She brought out feelings in him that he wasn't accustomed to, and sometimes all it took to elicit them was for her to smile, laugh at one of Eame's dirty jokes or just to be close to him. There had been times that even the ghost of a touch from her was enough to stop him in his tracks, and the rare occasion in which she had hugged him... Well, that had been something different altogether. Something sparked to life in him then, a feeling so overwhelming that it made him stop and question why he hadn't yet swooped Ariadne up in his arms and carried her off into the sunset to live happily ever after. It scared him to tread on such unfamiliar ground, but it was a feeling that he not only did not want to go away, but to experience more of... Much, much more. So there he was, prepared to say or do anything to start repairing the damage he had done.

"The thing is, after what happened, I just... I dunno if I can trust you Arthur," she began, pausing deliberately to see what his reaction would be.

Opening his eyes, he stood up straight and shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. He needed to do something with them to stem the sweaty palms and to stop himself from absend mindedly fiddling with whatever he could get his hands on. All he had on him was his cell phone and his gun tucked safely away in a concealed holster, and he didn't think it would be a good idea to mess around with either of them.

"Of course, I understand that completely Ariadne, and you have every right to feel like that, I-" she cut him off before he could finish.

"Trust is very important to me Arthur, I hate it when people aren't honest with me, or take me for a fool. You've done both of those things and," she paused to take a steadying breath "hurt me in a way that I never thought was possible, especially from you."

A fresh wave of guilt swept over Arthur so suddenly and so profoundly that it nearly knocked the air out of him.

"I, I know, I wish..." he stammered, unable to think of any words that could accurately describe how sorry he was, and how much he hated himself at that moment. it was all he could do to stop himself from heading out, finding the nearest dive bar and provoking a slobbering drunk into beating him black and blue.

"The thing is," Ariadne began as if she hadn't heard Arthur's pitiful attempt at another apology "you know a lot about me, both from what I've told you, and what you've undoubtedly researched before I joined the team... But I know next to nothing about you. I know that you have expensive taste in food and suits, that you feel the need to gel your hair back every day because it looks professional, and that you've probably had some form of military training at some point in your life. Apart from that though, I don't know anything REAL about you."

Arthur felt himself instinctively go tense all over as he had formed a vague idea as to where Ariadne might be heading in her train of thought. It shouldn't have worried him, the idea of opening up to her seemed plausible enough, but it was something he wasn't used to doing with anyone in his life, not even those who were close to him. He had however vowed to do whatever it took to win her trust, so if it meant divulging some things from his past then so be it.

"I know how much you value your privacy, and that you don't like the idea of mixing business with your personal life, but I think that if I felt that you could open up to me a little bit more, that it would show how much you trust me. If you could trust me with some of your more intimate little secrets, then I sure as hell can work on learning to trust you again."

He nodded in assent - It seemed like a reasonable enough request, especially after what he had put her through.

"Okay... What do you want to know?" he asked, his tone set and determined. He would see this through.

Inside the room, Ariadne felt the corners of her mouth quirk upwards as a surge of excitement coursed through her. It was wrong to feel like this, she knew that, but she couldn't help it - This was her chance to finally get to know the real Arthur after so long of only being able to skim the surface of the walls he had built around himself over the years.

"Is there anything you're NOT willing to talk about?" she asked.

Arthur pondered this for a moment before answering "Nope. Tonight I'm an open book, so ask away," he responded jovially, trying desperately to hide how nervous he really was.

Licking her lips, Ariadne thought about her next move carefully; it was almost as if a new universe of posiblities had opened up before her and she had no idea where to begin. Instantly more personal questions pushed their way to the forefront of her mind - 'Who was your first kiss with?' 'How many people have you slept with?' 'Boxers or briefs?', and the thought of finding out made her grin wickedly. The question she blurted out however seemed just as personal, if not more so.

"What's your mother's name?" she asked, trying to keep her tone light and airy despite the butterflies furiously assaulting her insides.

On the other side of the door, Arthur smiled - He hadn't been expecting that. Glancing up and down the corridor before answering, he slipped into a memory of his kind hearted mother smiling down at him, her dark eyes twinkling as she watched a young Arthur run around their back yard, kicking a ball towards his beloved pet dog Joe.

"Her name is Janine. It was Janine Miller before she married my father."

Ariadne smiled and instantly formed a mental picture of what she thought his mother would be like. She pictured her to be a lot like Arthur, only with more of an attitude and a penchant for putting men in their place.

"And your dad?" she pressed, unable to keep the smile off her face.

Arthur faltered slightly and sighed despondantly before answering.

"His name was Michael Reed" he said simply, putting emphasis on the word 'was'.

Ariadne felt her heart sink and rubbed a hand over her eyes as she shook her head slowly.

"Arthur, oh god, I'm so sorry, I didn't know..." she trailed off, her mind unable to comprehend how devastating it must have been for him him as she herself was very close with her own father.

"Don't be, it's alright, how could you have known?" he reassured her. The pang of sadness usually associated with thoughts of his late father didn't linger for long however, it had been eight years since his passing, and thinking about him without falling into despair had gotten substantially easier over the years.

Arthur knew that Ariadne wanted to ask how, but didn't want to press the subject any further with him, so he decided to fill in the blanks for her.

"He died of kidney failure - It hit him pretty quickly and there was nothing the doctors could do. It was a shock to all of us, but-" he stopped instantly when he heard the beep and click of the door being unlocked, and took a small step back as Ariadne opened it.

Standing before him, she forced a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, which were red rimmed and puffy from crying. He didn't think it was possible to hate himself more, but in that moment he did as he took in the sight of her, standing there looking so lost and upset. He hadn't had a chance to get a look at her as she ran from the warehouse back to the hotel, but he didn't stop to think that it would upset her enough to cry about it - She had always seemed like the tough, stubborn no nonsense type who would hate the idea of showing any sign of weakness around other people. They gazed at each other for a long, drawn out moment before she stepped back and indicated for him to go inside. Doing so obediently, she let the door swing shut behind her and stalked over to large bed at the opposite side of the room, jumping onto it before crossing her legs underneath her. Nodding in the direction of a plush two seater sofa to his left, he again obeyed and sat down, preferring to sit at the edge rather than sit back and get comfy.

Looking over at him with wide, expectant eyes, Ariadne gave him an encouraging smile and only then did Arthur realise that she wanted him to continue.

"So, um, yeah... It was a shock to all of us, especially my mom who took it the hardest, so me and Jaime- my older sister" he clarified seeing Ariadne's confusion "rallied around and were just there for her, you know? It was hard on us too of course, and we had our own things going on - I was in college and was planning on joining the army when I'd graduated, and Jaime had just started a new job at a very pretentious law firm. We pulled through it all in the end though," he finished, looking over at her to gauge a reaction.

Her gaze softened as she leaned forward and placed her hands on her knees "That must have been awful for all of you, I can't even begin to imagine... God, sorry, I don't mean to ramble, it's just, I had no idea," she said sounding very lost.

"I know you didn't, don't worry about it Ariadne, please; and thank you, I mean it," he said.

For a while they sat in silence, with Arthur watching as Ariadne took time to let the information sink in properly before regaining her composure and moving on.

"So... Your older sister Jaime is a lawyer huh?" she teased, a mischevous glint in her eye. She had always pictured Arthur as being an only child or being the eldest sibling - A protective big brother type.

He grinned before scratching the back of his neck sheepishly "Yeah, she is. Two years older and just loves to point it out at any given opportunity. A bossy, very protective big sister who is married to her job and has to be in control of absolutely everything."

"She sounds like a real piece of work," Ariadne laughed.

"Oh, she really is, but I love her anyway," he said in a mock reluctant way.

Ariadne stalled for a moment at what he'd said - She didn't think she'd ever heard Arthur mention the word love before, even when taken out of context. It sounded weird coming from him, but nice at the same time.

She briefly toyed with the idea of asking what his parents had done for a living, but she didn't want to touch on them again. Deciding to go down an entirely different route, the question was out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"How old were you when you lost your virginity?" she blurted out. Seeing the startled look on Arthur's face as he stared at her in surprise, Ariadne gasped and felt herself glowing a scarlet shade of red as she raised a hand to cover her open mouth. The look on her face was enough to make Arthur want to laugh uproariously, but through some miracle he managed to hold back.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked, it's none of my-"

"I was fifteen, it was with a girl I hadn't been dating for very long and no, it wasn't that great," he shrugged, his mind not dwelling on his brief encouter with Ashely Harris for very long.

"Wow, fifteen, really?" she asked, sounding somewhat shocked.

"Yup, fifteen. Admittedly not one of my finest moments, but hey, there it is. She was a nice girl, but things didn't last for very long afterwards," he sighed, sounding almost ashamed.

Taking a moment to mull it over, Ariadne suddenly felt the need to divulge the details of her first encounter to Arthur, not knowing why but doing it anyway.

"I uh, I was seventeen," she mumbled, staring down at her hands.

Straightening up in his seat, Arthur suddenly became very interested in what she had to say.

"Seventeen's a good age - A respectable age, nothing to be ashamed of," he assured her.

"Yeah, well, it's not that... It was with a guy I'd been dating for a few months, and we'd promised ourselves that we'd wait until prom night, you know, the good old American high school cliche. However, there was this one night when a friend of ours was having a party down by the beach, so we both went, got drunk and, well... Decided that it would be romantic to sneak off to a secluded spot and, ya know," she said gesturing with her hands.

Nodding in understanding, Arthur waited for her to continue.

"So we did; there was a cave not far away from the beach, so we went there. It was cold, uncomfy and not the best experience of my life, but that's how it happened. One thing me and you have in common though is that it did NOT last long aftewards - He dumped me two days later and told all of his friends that I was easy, so that wasn't fun..." she trailed off and glanced down to realise that she'd been wringing her hands to the point that her knuckles had turned white.

Risking a glance over at Arthur, she saw that his eyes had darkened considerably, and had unconsciously balled his hands into fists.

"What an asshole," he spat.

"You're telling me," she said chuckling lightly.

"Did you ever do anything about it?" he demmanded before forcing himself to calm down upon seeing how taken aback she looked. "Please tell me you didn't let him get away with it," he pleaded.

"There wasn't much I could do about it apart from tell my side of the story, not that it mattered to some people. There IS a happy ending though - I don't have any brothers or sisters, but I have a lot of cousins who I am super close with. One in particular, Jake, wasn't very happy when he heard about what Nick the dick was saying. So, being very popular and well liked, he got some of his friends together as back up, found him and gave him the blackest eye I have ever seen. Nobody coroborated Nick's story though, so he was left high, dry and humiliated," she finished, a face splitting grin suddenly adorning her pretty features.

Nodding in approval, Arthur smiled at her "I like the sound of this Jake guy."

"Yeah, he's pretty cool, you probably would like him; and I'm sure he'd like you too," she added as an afterthought.

For a while after that, Ariadne asked all of the slightly more embarassing, personal questions she had wanted to ask earlier, even stopping to answer some of them herself. The mood had lightened considerably, and two hours later Arthur had removed his suit jacket and sat cross legged on the bed across from Ariadne. They were now asking each other questions, some of which were slightly boring, others that were slightly more serious, and the serious questions were usually followed up with a silly one to take the edge off.

"How many times have you been shot?" Ariadne asked as she stretched out and fell back against her plush pillows, intertwining her hands above her head.

Arthur frowned as he thought back. "Twice - Once in my left shoulder while I was on tour, and the other in my right shin while on a job with Dom, neither of which was fun, as you could well imagine."

Chewing on her bottom lip thoughtfully, she looked over at him as he sat there looking very distant, obviously lost in the pain of the memories.

She opened her mouth to ask what his favourite reality TV show was when he cut her off by asking if she herself had had any serious injuries in the past.

"Well, not as serious or painful as yours, but yeah, I've had my share of scrapes," she said rolling up the sleeve of her dark blue sweater and turning her arm around so that Arthur could see the underside. Upon closer inspection, he saw two faint white lines running from her wrist to halfway down her forearm.

"That I did when I was nine - I'd been screwing around with my cousins, tripped and fell arm first through one of the glass panels on our patio door. I lost a lot of blood, but they managed to get me to the hospital on time, and now I have these lovely scars to remind me of it all."

"Jesus," Arthur whistled appreciatively and, without thinking, inched closer and gently grabbed her arm to get a closer look. Ariadne instantly froze, and all coherent thought faded away to nothing as all she could focus on was the warmth of Arthur's fingers on her arm. Looking down, she couldn't help but notice how nimble and articulate they were, taking time to note with surprise that the skin was soft and smooth, a far cry from Eames' rough and calloused hands. Arthur looked over at her and suddenly realised what he was doing, so let her arm drop and moved further up the bed than he had been before. Nobody knew quite what to make of the situation, and the awkward silence was broken by a mumbled apology from Arthur.

"Don't be, it's fine, really," Ariadne said before rolling her sleeve back down and laying both hands flat on her stomach. Sighing wearily, she cleared her throat and asked the question she had been about to before Arthur's interruption. She wasn't surprised to find that he intensely disliked reality TV, an opinion that she shared. He like documentaries apparently, especially ones about the world wars, and Ariadne of course loved every one she could find that was about buildings and architecture. After a shaky, hesitant start, they fell back into their old rhythm and the minor blip was put to the back of their minds.

"Your favourite indulgent snack?" she asked, fully expecting him not to have any.

To her surprise he gave this one a lot of thought before smiling "Toffee popcorn, definitely. I love the stuff... What?" he asked seeing the incredelous look on her face.

"Sorry sorry, it's just... I thought you were mister health freak who lived on nothing but grilled chicken and salmon or cous cous," she retorted rolling her eyes. Arthur laughed.

"Nope, I'm not as healthy as I make myself out to be, really - I slip up more often than I'd like."

Groaning audibly, Ariadne pouted as she pushed herself to sit up against the headboard of the bed.

"That is SO unfair! You stay as thin as you are, yet if I fall out of line once I gain like ten pounds!" she cried out, acting as if it were a grave injustice.

Arthur chuckled, and once again acted before thinking "I think you look perfect the way you are," he insisted, his eyes sincere as he looked her up and down.

Ariadne felt herself blushing again, and attempted to distract herself by reaching over and taking a big gulp out of her glass of water that sat on the bed side table.

"Thank you," she finally said after avoiding his gaze for a minute.

Chastising himself internally for crossing another boundary, Arthur ran a hand over his slicked back hair as a few strands had fallen lose.

"And yours?" he asked eventually, an edge of caution to his voice.

"Mine? Oh, yeah, sorry... Uh, every gal's two best friends of course - Ben and Jerry," she clarified as he raised his eyebrows quizically.

"Ah, yes, the most over priced ice cream in the world," he relayed sarcastically.

"Hey, it's worth every penny!" she retorted in mock anger, jabbing an accusing finger in his direction.

After that, things began to settle down - The questions continued, but became more obscure as the night wore on and both of them grew tired. The darkness outside of her windows eventually gave way to a faded grey tinged with pink, and by then Ariadne had rolled onto her side and was barely able to get the questions out as her eyes grew heavier and her speech more slurred. Arthur too began to realise just how tired he was as he found himself leaning against the corner post of the bed and fighting to keep his eyes open. Snapping his head forward, he realised that Ariadne had fallen asleep and smiled wearily to himself. Her mouth was open slightly, and her rhythmic breathing almost bordered on snoring, so Arthur, moving as quietly as he could, swung his legs over the side of the bed and stretched out his tired, stiff limbs. Standing up, he moved his head from side to side to get the kink out of his neck and went to pull on his discarded shoes and suit jacket. Moving to tip toe out of the room, he looked back at Ariadne's sleeping form and instinctively moved over to the bed and carefully pulled the blanket over her. Standing watching her for a moment longer, a strange contented feeling settled over him as he turned and quietly slipped out of her room.

Standing outside in the hallway, he checked his watch and was shocked to see that it was nearly five am. Debating over whether to head back to his room and simply forgo sleep and jump straight into work, or to catch up on sleep, he decided eventually on the latter. If Eames got upset that he for once was the only person to turn up on time, then he could raise the issue with Arthur later, but for now he needed at least four or five hours of sleep before he was able to function when it came to their work.

Trudging back to his hotel room, he stripped off his suit and collapsed onto the bed in just his boxers. Normally he would have taken the time to put on some form of pyjama bottom and brush his teeth, but at that point he was so tired that he barely had time to reflect upon what had happened with Ariadne before falling into a deep sleep. It might not have been enough to mend the gaping rift between them, but it was a start, and Arthur was damned if he was going to give up without a fight.

**_A/N: Soooo... What did you think? I know that I said it would end up being a two shot, but I think I can squeeze one more chapter out of this one (definitely not as long as this one though!) Again, thank you so much for your continued support (and patience!), reviews and favourites, it really does mean the world to me. Worry not - The next chapter will be coming VERY soon!_**


	3. Chapter 3

_** Disclaimer: I do not own, or am associated in any way with the movie 'Inception' or any of it's characters. They all belong to the genius known as Christopher Nolan. Any character or name that you do not recognise is my own *little note - 'Till' is short for Matilda, who is a character created for an Inception RP that I am currently participating in* **_

_**A/N: Anyway, once again I must apologise for the time it's taken to get this up; I have no real excuse rather than I've been busy and for a while was suffering from a lack of inspiration/writer's block... But here we are, final chapter! This was only ever meant to be a one shot, but all of you awesome readers/reviewers and followers pushed me to keep going, and for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart! Anyway, enough rambling, here it is, enjoy!**_

Three loud knocks roused Arthur from his deep sleep and he reluctantly opened his heavy eyes to find mid morning sunlight pouring in through the curtained window. Rubbing at his bleary eyes as he fumbled around the bed side table for his phone, he groaned when he saw that it was nearly half past nine. Falling back against the pillows, he tossed his phone aside and hoped that his silence was enough to deter whoever was on the other side of the door from knocking again. Moments later however, Eames' unmistakable lazy drawl filtered in through the door, much to Arthur's annoyance.

"Arthur? Is everything alright in there? Normally I would encourage tardy behaviour, but this isn't like you, especially when there's work to be done."

Tossing the covers aside, Arthur dragged himself out of bed and fumbled around for something to wear, deciding eventually on his discarded suit trousers from the night before.

"Give me a minute," he retorted wearily, grabbing his not so crisp white shirt and pulling it on, hastily doing the buttons as he approached the door. Pulling the key card ouf of his pocket, he opened the door to a very bemused looking Eames who gave him the once over with raised eyebrows.

"Love the hair," he smirked as Arthur stepped aside to let him him, hastily running a hand over his tousled hair in a vain attempt to flatten it. He watched irritated as Eames sauntered in, inspecting every inch of the room as if he were looking for something... Or someone.

"As much as I appreciate your concern, it's not warranted. I was up late working..." Arthur trailed off, knowing how unconvincing he sounded, especially to Eames who had a wicked glint in his eye.

"Working? Really? On what exactly? Or would I be more accurate in saying 'who'? If I remember correctly, the last time I saw you was when you left the warehouse, running after our little architect in an attempt to patch things up," he shot back, moving over to the plush, comfy looking chair on the opposite side of the room. Making sure never to take his eyes off Arthur as he slowly lowered himself into the chair and crossed his legs, he then steepled his fingers together and canted his head as if drinking the point man in. He wanted to roll his eyes and walk away, but Arthur couldn't help but feel caught off guard as Eames' crystal blue eyes bore into him.

"So... Did you? Patch things up I mean," he asked innocently.

"That's none of your business," Arthur snapped, his patience wearing thin very quickly as it so often did when spending time with Eames outside of work.

Uncrossing his legs, Eames placed his hands on his knees and leaned forward, his eyes turning to steel as he glared at Arthur.

"Actually, it *is* my business" he spat "If there is bad blood within team, it will effect how we perform the job, and ultimately the end result could be very undesirable for everyone involved. Think about what happened with Cobol - I'm pretty sure you and Dom will always be looking over your shoulders for the forseeable future after you guys screwed them over. You don't want that to happen here do you?" Arthur opened his mouth to answer, but Eames ignored him and continued "No, of course you don't, especially not with Ariadne involved. Besides, I care about her as well, and I don't like the idea of seeing her hurt or upset because of something you di-" at this point, Arthur could feel his temper come dangerously close to to boiling over, so he cut Eames off before he launched himself at the man.

"Can this wait until after I've showered and had time to wake up?" he hissed through gritted teeth. Not stopping to wait for his answer, Arthur rummaged around in his drawers, finding what he needed for a shower before heading towards the en suite. Stopping at the door, he turned to look back at Eames who had settled back into the chair and now regarded him with contemplative eyes

"Of course it can darling; but try not to be too long eh? My boss is a real prick when it comes to time keeping."

Choosing to ignore the cutting remark, Arthur indicated from Eames to the door expectantly, and when the forger didn't move, he sighed wearily.

"Can I at least have some privacy Eames?!" he demanded a little louder than intended.

"You'll have plenty in there" he responded, pointing to the bathroom door "If I happen to catch a glimpse of something I haven't seen before, then I'll throw money at it... Besides, I have this very dog eared copy of GQ to keep me occupied while I wait, so I'll be fine," he said grinning before reaching over to a small end table sat next to him and grabbing Arthur's copy of GQ.

Picking up the glossy magazine, he flipped to a random page and stared wide eyed in shock at something.

"Eight hundred dollars for a watch? Bloody hell... I could get you a very realistic looking knock off for about one fifty..." he muttered in disgust.

Shaking his head, Arthur slammed the door behind him and went out of his way to take as long as he could, hoping that Eames would be gone by the time he was done. An hour later he emerged clean, refreshed and ready to face the day ahead, but Eames was still there reading the glossy magazine, a look of concentration etched into his rugged features. Arthur pretended not to notice him and marched over to the large mahogany desk on the opposite side of the room. Grabbing a large stack of papers, he sat down in the high backed leather chair and began flipping through them, skimming over some while taking his time to read others.

"I've slept with models who take less time than you to get ready," Eames suddenly piped up, breaking the awkward silence that had descended over them.

Arthur didn't look up from what he was doing, but stopped reading as he thought back to what he'd seen of Eames' past conquests and couldn't help but smirk.

"I don't doubt that for a second," he replied before concentrating again on the pages of research before him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eames asked, sounding almost affronted.

"That the calibre of the notches on your crumbling bedpost are something to be desired," he fired back, hoping that side swiping Eames with insults would take his mind off of the issue at hand. Eames went silent and tossed the magazine aside, and Arthur hoped that he would follow it up with getting up and storming out of the room.

"I think that Ariadne is really quite cute actually," he said suddenly, taking Arthur completely by surprise. He whipped around in his chair and fixed Eames with a steely gaze, one that didn't seem to faze him at all as he simply smiled back at him.

"I don't normally go for smart women, but there's just *something* about her you know? She's like a feisty, tempramental little pixie - She's cute but sexy at the same time."

"Eames, that's enough," Arthur warned, his eyes narrowing as he watched the forger sit forward in the chair and begin to gesture wildly with his hands.

"They always say that short and petite women are the ones you really have to watch out for. They're the ones who're supposed to be more fiery in bed-" he stopped abruptly when Arthur shot out of his chair and gripped the back of it with such force that his knuckles turned white with the strain. Eames could tell that if Arthur hadn't been anchoring himself to the chair, that there would have been a repeat performance of the previous night's scuffle between the two of them.

He would haved liked to continue; there was nothing he loved more than pushing Arthur's buttons and sending him over the edge, but he was touching on a very delicate subject and had no doubt in his mind that Arthur would quite happily take a swing at him before throwing him out of the room and never talk about what happened between him and Ariadne again. Eames wanted to know what had happened and why, so for the first time in a long time he decided to hold his tongue.

After what felt like hours of awkward silence, Eames sighed wearily and ran his hands over his face and through his lightly tousled hair.

"Listen, Arthur mate, I know that you're not one for sharing, but this thing with Ariadne needs to get sorted sooner rather than later. If not for the team's sake, then at least for hers. Just tell me what actually happened," he paused momentarily before hastily adding "Please."

Sighing wearily, Arthur let go of the chair before slowly lowering himself back into it, taking a moment to stare blankly at the floor before looking over at Eames with sincere eyes.

"You were at the hotel bar with Till all night and Ari came to my room at about ten thirty wanting to talk to me about something. She said she'd been having problems keeping the dream world and reality seperate; told me that her totem wasn't working for her sometime and that she'd get lost or carried away when she was under. She asked me for advice and the only thing I could think of that would help her was private one on one sessions in which I'd try and train her to become more adjusted to and aware of her surroundings."

Eames looked surprised - He hadn't been expecting this. "Yeah?" he implored, gesturing with his hand for Arthur to continue.

"We talked about it for a little while then went to the warehouse - Neither of us saw the point in telling you or Till where we were going as we assumed you wouldn't even notice that we were gone-"

"Which we DID... Eventually" Eames interrupted, looking very pleased with himself for a moment before growing quiet under Arthur's steely gaze.

"When we got there, I set everything up and explained to her what I was going to do, which was for us to go under and put ourselves in real life situations and to walk through them as normal. I was with her and guided her, and she had her totem so everything was going really well..." he trailed off and broke away from Eames' intense gaze, choosing instead to stare wistfully through the the large window across the room from him.

"Something tells me that there's a 'but' coming," Eames said, the sarcasm glaringly evident in his voice.

Arthur didn't respond immediately, choosing instead to watch as a sparrow fluttered by the window before losing himself in his memory of the previous night. It had started off so simply, with Arthur guiding Ariadne through what she considered a normal day, stopping every now and then to ensure that she knew it wasn't her reality. After spending the equivelant of two days following Ariadne's everyday routine, Arthur realised that her problem was caused by putting her into highly stressful or dangerous situations, so changed tact for their 'third day' together. He engineered a very important dinner meeting with their current employer, Jirou Miyazaki, in which the purpose was for Ariadne to explain what she as their architect had achieved so far and what her continuing plans for the job were. She appeared nervous but managed to pull it off with the minimal of fuss, even going as far as impressing their wealthy benefactor enough to push him into agreeing to move the team's residence from a hotel to a large, privately owned condo. Both Arthur and Ariadne left the dinner grinning from ear to ear, neither of them feeling the need to change their location or end the training any time soon. They chatted and laughed as if it were another normal day, and it almost pained Arthur having to say goodnight to Ariadne as they came to her hotel room. She slipped inside, shooting him a knowing smile as the door closed behind her, leaving Arthur standing for a moment in the hallway simply staring at the door. He knew that none of it was real, but he couldn't help but feel very deflated as he remembered how good she had looked in her blue dress. Lingering a moment longer, he made a swift decision before turning and rushing to his own room just down the hall, slipping inside and grabbing one of the spare key cards he'd asked the hotel clerk for when they had all checked in *only to be used in dire emergencies he'd reassured his team when they protested*. In seconds he was back in front of Ariadne's door, sliding the card into the slot and letting himself in. He could see from the slightly ajar door leading to her en suite that she was likely getting ready for bed, so he told himself that he was going to give her another few minutes before making sure that she knew this too wasn't real. Standing with his arms folded for a while as he listened to her bustling around in the adjoining room, something inside him snapped as he caught a quick glimpse of her passing by the crack in the door. Forgetting everything he had learned and had drilled into him over the years by Dom, he chose to abandon all pretense of seperating reality and the dream and moved forward without thinking, a very sudden and intense desire burning at his very core as he began to loosen his tie...

Snapping back to reality, Arthur blinked rapidly for a moment before focussing on Eames again, who was now staring at him impatiently with an expectant eyebrow raised.

Sighing again, Arthur's steely resolve slipped for a moment and it almost pained Eames to see the look of utter despair etched into his handsome features. Clearly what had happened with Ariadne was affecting him more than he was willing to admit, but Eames felt lucky enough being told what had gone on between the two of them, so chose not to push him any further. There weren't a great many number of people who'd had a chance to see the 'real' Arthur, and Eames had a feeling that if Arthur ever chose to share his innermost private thoughts and feelings, that it wouldn't be with him.

"Things got a bit complicated after that; We both sort of lost ourselves and one thing led to another. It was... Incredible," he gasped, a sudden far away look stealing him away for a moment before he came crashing back down to Earth.

"It wasn't real... None of it was," he muttered, more to himself than anyone.

Eames wanted nothing more than to cross the room and wrap a friendly, reassuring arm around Arthur's shoulders, but he realised that *that* particular gesture was best used on women or men who were willing to welcome a bit of intimacy into their lives. Arthur was neither, so he remained seated and chose instead to allow a few moments of silence before he spoke up again.

"Did Ari know it wasn't real? Did you for that matter?"

"At first we both knew it wasn't; it was part of the training after all. But it didn't take long for us to want to drag it just that little bit longer as we were both having fun. I don't know about Ariadne, but i don't think it took long for her to really fall into the delusion that it was reality. As for me, I knew it all wasn't real and I went to her to end the training, but something in me decided to throw caution to the wind and allow myself to believe it was real; I WANTED it to be real," he clarified.

Eames simply nodded "I see," he paused for a beat "For someone with such small legs, she ran out of that warehouse faster than I thought was possible... Please tell me that you managed to catch up to her and fix everything."

The corners of Arthur's mouth quirked upwards slightly and he attempted to hide it by running a hand over his face, but Eames was a very perceptive and attentive man and managed to catch it.

"Oh, you've piqued my curiosity now darling... Do tell, inquiring minds want to know!" he cajoled lightly.

Again, Arthur let a small smile slip through before he composed himself and forced his expression to harden.

"All you need to know is that I've made a start and that there won't be any friction between us while we're on the job," he responded sternly.

"Oh Arthur will you just GIVE OVER! That's twice I've seen hints of a smile, and it's obvious that you were up ridiculously late due to the fact that *I* of all people had to wake you up-" he stopped very suddenly and the look of sudden realisation dawning on him was almost comical.

"Oh GOD... Please tell me that you didn't sleep with her in order to rectify the situation in which you made her believe that you slept with her, because that's stupidity on a level that even I wouldn't broach," he groaned, staring pleadingly at Arthur.

The point man snorted derisively in response "No, I didn't sleep with her Eames. We talked for a while and now things are a bit beter between us. That's all."

"That's all I'm getting?" he asked pouting.

"Yes, that's all you're getting... All you're ever going to get," Arthur irritably retorted, his tone suggesting that the conversation had drawn to a close.

Sighing dramatically, Eames pushed himself out of the arm chair with a grunt and went to leave when Arthur unexpectly spoke up again, his tone deadly serious.

"After all of this, it's now obvious to me what it is that's causing problems when we go under, and not just for Ariadne."

Pressing his lips together in a fine line, Eames exhaled a breath that he hadn't realised he'd been holding.

"And what's that?" he asked as he turned slowly to face Arthur again.

"It's an unwritten rule, for team mates not to get involved with each other, but as you very well know it's not an easy one to follow. You don't stop to consider the consequences if you flaunt the rules, especially if all you're doing is casually sleeping together. If feelings run deeper than that though, it gets in the way; they distract us when we're under and take us to places that we don't want to come back from..." he trailed off, but Eames knew exactly what he was trying to say and nodded.

"So, you and Ari-"

"Can't happen, at least not anytime soon," Arthur finished.

Both men were silent for a while, allowing the grim realisation of the situation to sink in when Arthur's phone started buzzing. Arthur was out of his chair and across the room in moments, grabbing his phone from the night stand and answering in a very forced, pleasant tone.

"Ari? What's up?" he said, turning to face Eames who shot him a small, sympathetic smile.

"Arthur, oh my god, I'm SO sorry I'm not there! I just woke up and just need like, ten, MAYBE fifteen minutes to get ready-" she rambled, the panic evident in her voice before Arthur cut her off.

"It's fine, really. Don't panic; I haven't been up for too long myself. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, all good here. Just woke up, saw the time and panicked. Have you guys started without me?" she asked, the rustling in the background suggesting that she was gathering clothes together.

"No no, we haven't started anything, I was actually thinking that we could all have the day off, so to speak," he said, glancing at Eames who stared at him in open mouthed disbelief before uttering a string of obscenities under his breath, no doubt unimpressed that he'd gotten up early for nothing.

"What, seriously? Like a personal day? Are you sure everything's okay?" she asked, not quite believing him.

He chuckled heartily "I'm not THAT much of a cruel task master. Besides, I think a day off would do everyone some good; give us all a chance to relax and re-charge our batteries. Unless you *want* to do some work-"

"No, no! I uh, I agree, it's a great idea. There's a few things I need to do, I guess," she trailed off and was silent for a beat, and Arthur could hear drawers opening and closing before something apparently fell to the floor with a thud, eliciting an exclamation of 'Shit!' from Ariadne.

"Everything okay?" he asked, unable to mask the amusement in his voice.

"Yeah, I just knocked over like, half of my drawing stuff, it's nothing though really... So, I guess I might see you later?" she asked sounding hopeful.

Arthur took a deep breath and ran a hand over his hair, turning away from Eames to stare at the opposite wall.

"Yeah, maybe. If not though, I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early."

"Okay, cool. Well, bye," she said, sounding uncertain.

"Bye," was all he said before hanging up and throwing his phone onto the un made bed. Staring at it for a moment as if it's very existance offended him, he then turned to Eames with a half hearted shrug and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"So, what do you think you're going to do for the rest of the day?" he asked in a vain attempt at taking his mind off the somewhat awkward conversation he'd just had with Ariadne.

"I dunno... Since I was up early and now have the rest of the day to myself, I guess I'll have to do something productive with it. I think I'm going to find Till, see how her meeting went with the 'informant' that she had lined up."

"Ah yes, of course. Tell her to get in touch with me and let me know how it went and what she found out," he instructed, falling back into his role as their point man and leader with ease.

Eames mockingly saluted before rewarding him with a sly wink. "Can do boss man, although I'm absolutely certain that she'll have a lot to tell you - If there's one thing she's good at, it's charming people out of anything she wants; information, secrets, plans, clothes... She's very, VERY good at it," he purred, a mischevous smile crossing over his face.

"You'll never learn will you Eames?" Arthur chastised, glaring at the forger through narrowed eyes.

"Nope! So I'll just have to keep trying until I do!" he jovially exclaimed, turning to open the door when he realised that he needed Arthur's key card.

Shaking his head wearily, Arthur marched over and unlocked the door, holding it open for Eames who went to step through when he hesitated.

"Are you going to be alright?" he asked, his bright blue eyes filling with concern.

"Yes, I'll be fine - I always am," he pressed, wanting desperately for Eames to leave so that he could have some privacy.

"Hm, if you say so. Oh well, have a nice relaxing day going through all of that glorious paperwork while the rest of us actually have fun."

And with that, he stepped through the door without another word and was striding down the corridor, heading in the direction of Till's room no doubt.

Letting the door swing shut behind him, Arthur looked around his now blissfully quiet room before sitting down at the large desk again, scanning the numerous stacks of paper and manila envelopes before picking up where he left off before. After reading the same line five times, Arthur slammed the papers back onto the desk in frustration and raked his hands through his hair for what felt like the millionth time that day. Shoving his chair back, he got up and started pacing about the generously sized room in an attempt to calm the whirlwind of thoughts blustering around inside his head. There was no way he was going to be able to concentrate on work when he felt so lost and out of control, and wearing a hole in the expensive carpet was going to do him no favours. He needed to clear his head, and going for a long walk was the only way he could see that happening. Heading over to the large closet, he pulled out the dark grey suit jacket that matched his slacks and slipped into it effortlessly, taking a moment to give himself the once over in the full lenfth mirror before deciding that he would do. Snatching his phone up from the bed, he briefly considered sending the team a message to let them know he was heading out, but decided against it as he realised that they'd probably not even notice he was gone. If they wanted to get in touch, they'd call him he reasoned with himself, patting himself down to ensure he had everything he needed before leaving. Feeling the familiar outline of his concealed gun, he toyed with the idea of leaving it behind before shaking his head and slipping out of the room.

Moving with a lightning quick pace along the corridor, he made eye contact with the odd guest who passed him by and greeted them with a curt nod of the head before taking the elevator down to reception. A large part of him yearned to turn around and head back up to Ariadne's room, wanting nothing more than to spend the day with her, just the two of them continuing in their quest to get to really know each other. However, the sensible part of him won out, telling himself that after his earlier realisation, that it would not be a good idea and to keep moving forward. Pushing through the doors of the hotel, he took a deep breath of fresh air before deciding to head to his left, expertly ducking and weaving around the milling crowds of people heading in the opposite direction. After turning a few corners and heading along some side streets, he found himself in a quieter part of the city and revelled in the peace as he slowed his gait and was now walking at a casual pace, even taking the time to stop and look in some shop windows before moving on.

While the walk was doing wonders for his jumbled mind, Ariadne never left him and he realised that she probably never would. Their wondrous encounter through use of the PASIV told him that she certainly had feelings for him as well, although the extent of those feelings were a mystery to him, and it almost broke his heart knowing that it had to remain that way for the foreseeable future. For her sake, for their sake... For the team's sake it had to be that way. He had no doubt that she would still be slightly weary of him after his betrayal of her trust, but he liked to think that the time they had spent asking question about each other had done something to help mend the broken bond. It would be hard for both of them, but Arthur had no doubt that they had the strength and will power to soldier on and get the job done in a professional manner. What the future held afterwards however was the next big mystery, one that Arthur wouldn't mind trying to unravel.

_**A/N: Weeeeell... What do you think? Angst galore! What? We can't make things easy for these two can we? And to think it all started with a chaste little kiss... Anyway, thanks again so much to everyone for your support, it really is appreciated. Please R and R!**_


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